Caught in a Fantasy
by Hollyerx
Summary: After Inception, everyone seems to go their own ways...except Arthur and Ariadne who are slowly beginning to find that their relationship between respected colleagues is growing into something more...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This is my first fanfiction so constructive critisim is encouraged! No bashing please though. Thanks to SparxFly for inspiring me to try this out!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own this story, any of the characters, or the interesting concepts of reality, dreams, and the subconscious! I repeat I DO NOT own any of it. They all belong to the wonderful and super creative Christopher Nolan. **

**Hope you guys enjoy!**

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><p>Ariadne sighed. This was pretty much as good as life got. She was lying on a beach, feeling the warm breeze blowing across the shore, and watching the most beautiful sunset she had ever witnessed. The horizon was streaked with striking shades of crimson that gently faded into some more subtle hues of pinks, then blended with pastel oranges and yellows. No, she thought to herself, this was neither your average coastline, nor your average evening.<p>

Looking around, just as soon as she thought she had finally taken in all of the beauty one could possibly behold, something new would capture her already divided attention. The ocean had the bright blue coloring of the Mediterranean, but the waves were more like that of the Pacific. The sand was quite pale and had an unbelievably fine, soft texture. Further inland there was a huge rainforest which expanded across the entire island. There were tall hardwoods, vermillion ferns, leafy foliage, and brightly colored, exotic looking flowers. Yet, even with all of this natural splendor surrounding her, there was no sign that tourists had discovered it. No freeways overcrowded with mini-vans, no families staking out a spot to watch the day slip away, and no buildings in sight. She couldn't have imagined a better vacation spot if she had been dreaming…

"Helloooooo…. Hello? Ariadne, you there?"

Ariadne snapped out of her pleasant reverie. But she was greeted by a view just as enjoyable, if not more so. After "the Project", as she had started referring to it, she had lost contact with all of her old colleagues. Yusuf, Saito, Eames, and even Cobb had slowly but surely stopped keeping in touch. They had all been thrown together in a desperate, life-(or was it sanity) threatening attempt to recover Cobb's life, and complete an impossible feat. Inception. Now that was all over, and they had nothing left in common. They went to follow their own separate paths… except the exceedingly attractive man who strolled over to join her at their spot on the beach.

Arthur, who had laid down beside Ariadne to supposedly enjoy the sunset, wasn't exactly even looking in its direction. He was gazing over at his right, to his Savior. No, he stopped his thoughts in their tracks. Ariadne was NOT his Savior. More like his reality check. Literally. After the Project, he'd constantly been working. Sometimes spending less hours outside of his clients' subconscious worlds than he was in real life. He was turning into a workaholic version of Cobb. By spending time with him outside of his heists, Ariadne had given him something to look forward outside of the alluring draw of the dream world. It was refreshing. Hell, it felt great. Eventually he quit stealing from others' memories and dreams altogether, it wasn't like he had been doing it because he needed the money anyways. He had enough to last him a long enough time and if he ever he needed some extra cash he could pick up a casual small scale theft along the way.

With all of this extra time with Ariadne in the "real world", a tension somewhat stronger than Arthur had originally intended had formed between the two of them. And at this moment, with the two of them relaxing together on the gorgeous beach, he couldn't help but stare. Staring, staring, staring, staring… at her soft skin, her chocolate brown hair, the contours of her face, and her deep, knowing eyes… eyes, which were now staring back into his with a questioning expression.

Finally Ariadne couldn't take it anymore.

"Why are you gawking at me? Did I get sand all over my face or something?"

"Wha- Oh… no, it's nothing… I-I was just contemplating something. Here, come with me, I think I just need to splash some cool sea water on my face."

It wasn't exactly a convincing explanation, but she accepted it. Recently Arthur had been acting slightly distracted, and she understood that some days were going to be better than others.

She took his hand and he gently helped her arise. Still holding hands, they made their way to the water. Just as Arthur was leaning down to rinse his face in the pristine sea water, she playfully splashed him and took off as fast as her legs could possibly carry her.

"Oh, it's on now. I'll get you for that!" He called after her, sprinting almost gleefully to catch up with his ambusher.

Soon they were in an all-out soaking contest, using any means they could to get the other companion supremely waterlogged. Grabbing, pulling, pushing, nothing was below either of them, neither one was going to give in. They were having blast, laughing and giggling the whole time. Then, taking him completely by surprise, Ariadne jumped on Arthur's back, causing him to stumble and fall, bringing his ambitious challenger with him.

She tightly shut her eyes as she could feel herself hitting the water and then- she was staring up at a smooth off-white surface. A ceiling? Ariadne found her clothes completely dry... she wasn't even wearing what she had been... She took in the rest of her surroundings. Queen sized bed with a fluffy striped comforter, shining bamboo hard wood flooring, expensive-looking black furniture, complete with a very masculine color scheme of various dark, neutral colors. It slowly began to dawn on her... they were back in Arthur's flat in London. Glancing over to her left she saw him, already taking the equipment out of his arm and very forcibly shoving it back into the briefcase. She sighed in dismay; she hated seeing him like this...

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><p><strong>AN Sorry for the cliffy, but it adds suspense. And yes my writing is slightly crude, but I'm a newbie okay? Review please! Any ideas you might have for the story are welcome. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N sorry for such a short chapter! also sorry it took so long to upload, I've been busy with band stuff, but twas dramatic right? please review!**

**Disclaimer I OWN NOTHING!**

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><p>"Goddammit!"<p>

"Arthur, calm down. It's okay, you enjoyed yourself for a little bit right? Plus your there were no projections anywhere on the island, so that solves the question about whether or not they'd attack us if we tried to make this thing work. We just rode an accidental kick," Ariadne tried to soothe his shot nerves as she calmly cleared away the equipment.

"Exactly! It was perfect, how are you ever going to create an environment so serene again? It was going fine until you had to tackle me! What's wrong with you?" The pitch of his voice rose to almost a falsetto as he angrily blamed her.

All thoughts of her beauty were long gone. Arthur was fuming. _She ruined everything_, he ranted in his thoughts. He had finally, finally let loose and exited the confusing labyrinth of his memories that he'd been lost in for months. Then Ariadne had gone and pushed him into the damn ocean and woke him up. He was back in the maze, and he would do anything to escape again.

Now his perspective was seriously pissing her off. _That ungrateful dolt!_ She was practically screaming at him in her head.

"Oh right, I see how it is! So it's my fault you aren't strong enough not to fall over when someone barely even pushes you? How silly of me to think that since I created your ideal vacation for your stupid self-prescribed 'therapy', you might actually thank me. God forbid that I spend weeks learning all about what you, your likes and dislikes, your little ticks that make you you, just to help you get over yourself and your goddamn 'scaring' experiences. I actually thought we at least respected each other enough that you wouldn't blow up on me when one tiny thing went wrong. Guess I overestimated your manners. I even thought that you might…" her voice trailed off as she realized how much she almost revealed about the feelings that had been growing during the time they had spent toghether.

Arthur softened. He took a few breaths to calm himself. He slowly realized she was right, although he resented how she questioned his strength… he was strong enough right? She'd just surprised him that was all. But what did she almost confess?

"Oh, Ariadne… I'm so sorry. You're quite right; you have been there for me more than anyone recently. I'm so dim for being short with you, you deserve much more than that from me. Could you possibly forgive my inexcusable lapse of deference?"

A deafening silence formed between them, causing an uncomfortable tension to pervade the room.

"Please? I'll find a considerably less efficient architect to help me with my… issues… just tell me that I didn't completely destroy our friendship," he practically begged as he softly placed one of his hands upon one of her own.

Ariadne's eyes explored Arthur's pathetic facial expression. Somehow, no one could say no to that face, no matter how angry she had been. She reluctantly informed him that she did in fact forgive him, but that he didn't need to hire someone else; she was in too deep to back out now.

The conversation was over now, but the couple continued to communicate with their eyes. Both were pondering Ariadne's earlier unfinished statement. Suddenly, Arthur's eye contact was making her feel hot, and she could feel her cheeks flushing. She looked away, wondering how many of their feelings were mutual. Their hands were still touching and she wasn't quite sure what to do until he started slowly stroking her hand with the side of his thumb. The soothing gesture felt good, however it muddled her already scattered thoughts. She moved to leave him and go back to her own place, but he stepped in front of her and pulled her into a fierce, if not slightly needy embrace. Startled, Ariadne wasn't sure where that had come from, but nevertheless she enjoyed it and hugged back. They stayed like for a long while until she glanced at the clock and it dawned on her that she needed to get back to her own apartment. She slowly broke contact, and looked up into Arthur's dark eyes.

"I have to go…"

Then she practically sprinted out of the flat and drove home, feeling more conflicted than ever.


End file.
